Imagine this. With only seconds to spare, specialized scissors, and your own hands, you have to create your masterpiece. A sculptor whose only enemy is time. Hand-sculpting beautiful portrayals of anything from a dragon to a goldfish in incredible detail. One major mistake and you have to start over completely. Clear and fragile as glass, flexible as clay, yet a temporary art that can be gone in an instant. This is the art of Amezaiku, a tradition of making candy sculptures that has existed in Japan since before the Edo period.
This is all spearheaded by a 28-year-old artisan named Tezuka Shinri. Originally from Chiba prefecture, Tezuka was set to pursue a career in making Japanese fireworks. However, as regulations surrounding fireworks grew continuously more and more restrained, he started to look towards a new field of work. Always drawn to the idea of craft and making things with his hands, he started considering other fields and this is how he happened across Amezaiku. In a short amount of time artists must create a beautiful masterpiece that can be seen from start to finish by customers and in that way it is both easy to be understood while also requiring precision and skill.
When Tezuka came across Amezaiku, he realized that while it had been around for so long, there was no one out there to properly preserve this art. So he decided not only was it his chance to create something original, it was also a chance to preserve an art that was on the decline. So he started to train, learn the art, selling his original designs in events and exhibitions around Tokyo. As he did more and more people started to notice and Ameshin became a household name in the craft industry. Of course, if people in craft are noticing you, naturally you begin to gravitate more and more towards the craft hub of East Tokyo.
When asked why he chose Asakusa, Tezuka laughed and replied, it’s more like Asakusa chose me. He opened his first shop in Imado around 4 years ago which serves as a workshop space, whereas the second location in Sky Tree town caters more towards tourists and selling his pieces. Over the years, Ameshin has been featured in both domestic outlets such as ANA as well as foreign exhibitions in Dubai and Hongkong using Amezaiku as a way to promote Japanese culture. He credits most of this growth to the connections he was able to make through the people of Asakusa and the nature of the town.
His success is darkened only by his concern that in the future as development continues, the older buildings of Asakusa will be torn down and the culture of craft that he owes so much to will be lost in the process. However, with more and more shops popping up the area, he believes that people from outside of Asakusa who love and support its culture will continue to fight alongside its people to keep that culture and tradition alive.
※The Imado head office of Ameshin is strictly used for workshop purposes (these can be reserved via phone or through email). The Skytree branch is the only shop where you can buy the pieces.
Asakusa head office (Café & workshop)
1-4-3 1 F Imado, Taito, Tokyo, 111-0024
Friday-Wednesday 11:00-18:00
Tokyo Skytreetown SORAMACHI shop
1-1-1-2 Tokyo Sky Tree Town, Soramachi, 4th floor East Yard 11, Oshiage, Tokyo, 131-0045
Everyday 10:00-21:00
http://www.ame-shin.com/en/